Techniques and Remote Control for Wireless Control of a Smart Lamp or Smart Illumination System

ABSTRACT

A method for controlling an electronic device with a remote control includes detecting a motion of the remote control and determining a command associated with the detected motion. The determined command is sent from the remote control to the electronic device. A corresponding remote control includes a motion detector for detecting a motion of the remote control, a device for determining a command associated with the detected motion, and a transmitter for sending the determined command to the electronic device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a Continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/123,606, filed on Sep. 6, 2018, which claims the benefit ofand priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 2017108890289 filed onSep. 27, 2017. Each of these patent applications is herein incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for controlling an electronicdevice with a remote control, in particular by detecting a motion of theremote control.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices, in particular so called “smart” devices, arebecoming more and more ubiquitous in the daily life. All these devicesneed to be controlled somehow, even if they are too small to be providedwith control elements or are installed in places where they are not easyto reach.

Controlling such devices by voice would be an option, but voice controleither requires high processing power or a continuous connection to theinternet for voice analysis.

Conventionally, electronic devices have been controlled by remotecontrols which provide a plurality of button to access various functionsof the device. But remote controls having many buttons may be confusingand remote controls having only a small number of buttons may makecontrolling the device cumbersome, especially if the device does nothave a display.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the known prior art, it is an object of the present inventionto provide a method for controlling an electronic device with a remotecontrol and a corresponding remote control which overcome the problemsmentioned above.

This object is solved by a method for controlling an electronic devicewith a remote control and a corresponding remote control according tothe independent claims. Preferred embodiments are given by the dependentclaims.

A method according to the present invention for controlling anelectronic device with a remote control comprises the following steps:

In one step, the remote control detects a motion of the remote control.The motion can be a translational motion or a rotational motion of theremote control or a combination thereof. A motion of the remote controlis understood to mean a motion of the remote control as a whole, notjust simply one part of the remote control with respect to another partthereof. For example, pressing a button of the remote control or movinga control stick on the remote control is not considered to be a motionof the remote control. In particular, the motion can be atwo-dimensional and/or a three-dimensional motion of the remote controlin space.

In a further step, the remote control determines a command that isassociated with the detected motion. The command is a command that is tobe sent to the electronic device and that is intended to controlbehavior of the electronic device.

When the motion is two-dimensional, its relative orientation is spacemay be taken into account when determining the associated command or itmay be ignored. For example, when the motion is a circle, a circle in ahorizontal plane and a circle in a vertical plane may be associated withthe same command or with different commands.

In a further step, the remote control sends the determined command tothe electronic device. The command can be sent using known techniquessuch as infrared (IR) or radio (e.g. Bluetooth or ZigBee technology)transmission. The command may be sent using a string of bitsrepresenting the command. Sending the command may correspond to sendinga command from a known remote control to an electronic device uponpressing a button on the remote control.

By using motion detection to identify the command to be sent, the remotecontrol does not need to comprise many buttons (e.g., one for eachcommand), rather a small number of buttons may be sufficient. Inparticular, the remote control may comprise one, two, or three buttonsor it may even comprise no buttons. At the same time the remote controlremains versatile and can detect and send a large number of commands.

The commands may be associated with motions of the remote control suchthat the user may intuitively perform the motion. This simplifiescontrolling the electronic device. For example, increasing a parameter,such as a light intensity of a lamp or a volume of a sound device, maybe achieved by moving the remote control clockwise (as seen from theuser) in a circle. Similarly, decreasing the parameter may be achievedby moving the remote control counterclockwise in a circle.

In another example, the motion may be heart-shaped and the associatedcommand may be entering a romantic light setting for a lamp or anillumination system (such as smart lamps sold by LEDVANCE GmbH under thetrademark Lightify).

In an embodiment, the method further comprises the step of bringing theremote control into a motion detecting state. Preferably, the remotecontrol is brought into the motion detecting state by an action of theuser before the motion of the remote control that is to be detected isbeing performed. This prevents accidental detection of a motion andsending of the associated command when no such command is intended to besent by the user, for example, when the remote control is just placedsomewhere else or is stored away. It furthermore helps to save energy,since the remote control does not have to keep a motion detectingelement active at all times.

In an embodiment, the remote control may be brought into the motiondetecting state by pressing a button on the remote control. The remotecontrol may be kept in the motion detecting state as long as the buttonis pressed, i.e. until the button is released again. Alternatively,pressing and releasing the button may cause the remote control to enterthe motion detecting state for a predetermined period of time, forexample for 10 seconds. The remote control may also automatically leavethe motion detecting state when no motion has occurred during apredetermined period of time, for example for 30 seconds.

The remote control may also be brought into the motion detecting stateby switching the remote control on or by inserting batteries (or otherstorage device for electric energy) into the remote control. In such acase, the remote control may remain in the motion detecting state untilit is switched off or until the batteries are removed again.

In an embodiment, detecting a motion of the remote control comprisesdetecting a translational motion of the remote control. In other words,a rotation of the remote control during its motion may be neglected.Essentially, only the position of a specific point of the remote control(such as its center of gravity or the position of a motion detectingelement inside the remote control) in space may be taken into accountwhen detecting the motion of the remote control. This simplifies usingthe remote control, since the user does not have to take care not torotate the remote control while he is performing the motion, inparticular when the motion includes curved portions.

In an embodiment, detecting a motion of the remote control comprisesrecording a motion pattern indicative of a motion of the remote controland determining a command associated with the detected motion comprisescomparing the recorded motion pattern with one or more motion patternsstored in a memory of the remote control.

The detected motion pattern may be a series of spatial coordinates ofthe remote control or it may be a series (i.e. one or more) of movementvectors. The motion pattern may include or exclude the rotationalorientation of the remote control and/or rotations vectors.

The comparison of the detected motion pattern with the motion patternsstored in the memory may take into account that a motion is not alwaysperformed in the same way or with the same amplitude (size). Forexample, the remote control may be moved in a circle each time with adifferent radius. Nevertheless, the same command is intended by the userand should be identified and sent to the electronic device. Accordingly,comparing the recorded motion pattern with one or more motion patternsstored in a memory of the remote control may include converting therecorded motion pattern into an abstract representation of the motion,for example normalizing the recorded motion pattern to a predeterminedsize.

Instead of comparing the full motion patterns, a numericalrepresentation of the motion patterns (such as a hash value) may becompared. The motions patterns may also be stored only as numericalrepresentations.

Preferably, the method for controlling an electronic device may be usedfor controlling a lighting device (such as a lamp or an illuminationsystem).

The present invention also relates to a remote control for controllingan electronic device. The remote control comprises a motion detector(i.e. a motion detecting element) for detecting a motion of the remotecontrol. The above explanations regarding the motion to be detectedapply here as well. In particular, the motion detector may comprise atleast one accelerometer such as the accelerometer available bySTMicroelectronics under the type number MPU9250. The motion detectormay be configured to detect translational motion in one, two, or threespatial dimensions. The motion detector may additionally oralternatively be configured to detect rotation around one, two, or threeaxes. The motion detector may be an axis magnetometer.

The remote control further comprises means for determining a commandassociated with the detected motion. The means for determining a commandmay be a microcontroller, in particular such as the microcontrolleravailable by Silicon Labs under the type number EM3585. The means fordetermining a command may comprise one or more inputs for receivingelectronic signals from the motion detector. For example, the motiondetector may be connected to the means for determining a command andcommunicate therewith via a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus or viaan Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus.

The remote control further comprises a transmitter for sending thedetermined command to the electronic device. The transmitter may be aninfrared (IR) diode or a radio transmitter (such as a Bluetooth orZigBee transmitter). The means for determining a command may compriseone or more outputs for sending electronic signals to the transmitter.

The means for determining a command, the motion detector, and thetransmitter (any two or all three of them) may be integrated into asingle unit. For example the means for determining a command may be amicrocontroller with integrated ZigBee transmitter such as themicrocontroller available by Silicon Labs under the type number EM3585.

In an embodiment, the remote control further comprises one or morebuttons for bringing the remote control into a motion detecting state.The buttons may be connected to corresponding inputs of the means fordetermining a command.

Alternatively or additionally, the remote control may comprise a switchfor bringing the remote control into the motion detecting state. In sucha case, the remote control may be in the motion detecting state as longas the switch is in a motion detection position, or the remote controlmay leave the motions detecting state if not motion is detected within apredetermined time period (e.g., 30 seconds) in order to save energy.

In an embodiment, the remote control further comprises at least oneaccelerometer for detecting a translational motion of the remotecontrol. Each accelerometer may be configured to detect translationalmotion in one, two, or three spatial coordinates. Preferably, the remotecontrol may comprise a single accelerometer configured to detecttranslational motion in three spatial coordinates, i.e., in threedimensions.

In an embodiment, the remote control further comprises a memoryconfigured to store one or more motion patterns. The means fordetermining a command associated with the detected motion may then beconfigured to record a motion pattern indicative of a motion of theremote control into said memory or into another memory and to comparethe recorded motion pattern with the motion patterns stored in thememory. The memory configured to store one or more motion patterns maybe a non-volatile memory, in particular a flash memory. If anothermemory is used for storing the recorded motion pattern, said othermemory may be volatile, but it can also be non-volatile.

The remote control may also be configured to allow a user to recordmotion patterns and/or to associate commands for the electronic deviceto pre-recorded motion patterns or to motion patterns recorded by auser. To record a motion pattern, the user (if necessary) brings theremote control into the motion detecting state and moves the remotecontrol along a motion pattern that is to be recorded. The recordedmotion pattern may then be stored in the memory of the remote control.

To associate commands for the electronic device to pre-recorded motionpatterns or to motion patterns recorded by a user, the user selects themotion pattern and the command that is to be associated with the motionpattern. Associating commands to motions patterns may be carried outusing an additional configuration device, such as a computer orsmartphone running a corresponding application and being connectable tothe remote control, either wirelessly (e.g. WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) orvia a cable. The associations defined by the user are preferably storedin a memory of the remote control. The additional configuration devicemay also be used for bringing the remote control into the motiondetecting state.

The remote control may also be configured to be locked using motioncontrol, such that the remote control cannot be used (for example byanother user or inadvertently) to control the electronic device. To lockthe remote control, the user (if necessary) brings the remote controlinto the motion detecting state and moves the remote control along alocking pattern. The locking pattern may be predefined or it may bedefinable by the user. To unlock the remote control, the user (ifnecessary) brings the remote control into the motion detecting state andmoves the remote control along an unlocking pattern. The locking patternmay be the same as the unlocking pattern or locking pattern andunlocking pattern may be different patterns. It is also considered thatmotion detection is used only for locking or for unlocking the remotecontrol and that unlocking or locking, respectively, is achieved in adifferent way, for example by pressing one or more buttons.

The present invention also relates to a system comprising an electronicdevice and a remote control as explained above for controlling theelectronic device. The system may comprise more than one electronicdevice. One or more of the electronic devices may be configured to becontrolled by the remote control by using motion detection as describedabove.

Preferably, the electronic device is a lighting device, i.e., a lamp oran illumination system (such as smart lamps sold by LEDVANCE GmbH underthe trademark Lightify).

Features mentioned in this description with respect to a device may alsobe employed for the corresponding methods. Vice versa, featuresmentioned in this description with respect to a method may also beemployed for the corresponding devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be explained in thefollowing, having regard to the drawings. It is shown in:

FIG. 1 a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a method accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 2 a schematic illustration of a hardware architecture diagram of anembodiment of a remote control according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for controlling anelectronic device with a remote control according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for associating amotion with a command for a remote control according to the presentinvention; and

FIG. 5 a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for unlocking aremote control according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention will bedescribed with reference to the drawings. The same or similar elementsor elements having the same effect may be indicated by the samereference number in multiple drawings. Repeating the description of suchelements may be omitted in order to prevent redundant descriptions.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of using a remote control 1according to the present invention in a method according to the presentinvention. The remote control 1 comprises three buttons 2, 3. One of thebuttons 2 is used for bringing the remote control 1 into a motiondetecting state. The other two buttons 3 may be used for directlychoosing commands and sending said commands to an electronic device (notshown), such as switching on and off the electronic device. The remotecontrol 1 may also comprise only two or more than three buttons 2, 3.

The remote control 1 may be brought into a motion detecting state bypressing and holding the corresponding button 2. The remote control 1may be configured such that, while the button 2 is being pressed, themotion of the remote control 1 is being detected and analyzed and acorresponding command is sent to the electronic device. For example,when the remote control 1 is in the motion detecting state and is movedclockwise along a circle (as shown in FIG. 1 ), a command to increase aparameter may be sent to the electronic device. As an example, theelectronic device may be a lamp such as a smart lamp and the command maybe to increase the brightness of the lamp.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a hardware architecture diagramof an embodiment of a remote control 1. The remote control 1 maycomprise a microcontroller 4. An accelerometer 6 may be connected to themicrocontroller, in particular using a bus 8 such as an SPI bus or anI2C bus. The microcontroller 4 may receive electronic signals indicativeof a motion of the remote control 1 (i.e. a motion pattern) from theaccelerometer 6 and use these signals to determine the motion of theremote control 1.

In order to determine a command associated with the motion pattern, theremote control 1 may compare the detected motion pattern with motionpatterns stored in a memory 5. The memory 5 may be part of themicrocontroller 4 or it may be a separate component connected to themicrocontroller 4.

The buttons 2, 3 of the remote control are connected to correspondinginputs 7 of the microcontroller 4, so that the microcontroller 4 mayrecognize when a button 2, 3 is being pressed. One of the buttons 2 maybe used for bringing the remote control 1 into a motion detecting state.

Once the microcontroller 4 has determined a command associated with themotion of the remote control 1, the command may be sent to an electronicdevice via a transmitter 9 (such as a Bluetooth or ZigBee transmitter).The transmitter 9 may be part of the microcontroller 4 or it may be aseparate component connected to the microcontroller 4.

FIG. 3 illustrates, using a flow diagram, an embodiment of a method forcontrolling an electronic device with a remote control 1 using motiondetection. At 20, the remote control 1 is brought into a motiondetecting state, for example by pressing and holding a correspondingbutton 2. At 21, while the button 2 is kept pressed, the remote control1 is being moved by the user along a desired path. The motion of theremote control is detected by a motion detector 6 (such as anaccelerometer) and corresponding electronic signals are provided to amicrocontroller 4 at 22 as a motion pattern. At 23, the microcontrollerreads a stored motion pattern from a memory 5 of the remote control 1.The detected motion pattern and the motion pattern read from the memory5 are compared at 24. If the two motion patterns match within apredetermined degree (exit Y), the command associated with the motionpattern (also stored in the memory 5) may be sent to an electronicdevice at 25. If the two motion patterns do not match (exit N), themethod returns to step 23 and the next stored motion pattern is readfrom the memory 5. If the detected motion pattern does not match any ofthe stored motion patterns, no command is sent to the electronic device.

FIG. 4 illustrates, using a flow diagram, an embodiment of a method forassociating a motion with a command for a remote control. At 30, theremote control 1 is brought into a motion detecting state, for exampleusing a smartphone (not shown) wirelessly connected to the remotecontrol (for example via Bluetooth) and running a configurationapplication. At 31, while the remote control 1 is in the motiondetecting state, the remote control 1 is being moved by the user along adesired path. The motion of the remote control is detected by a motiondetector 6 (such as an accelerometer) and corresponding electronicsignals are provided to a microcontroller 4 at 32 as a motion pattern.At 33, the detected motion pattern is stored in a memory 5 of the remotecontrol, preferably together with an associated command that is to besent to an electronic device. The associated command may be chosen usingthe smartphone.

FIG. 5 illustrates, using a flow diagram, an embodiment of a method forunlocking a remote control. At 40, the remote control 1 (being in alocked state, in which it does not send commands to an electronicdevice) is brought into a motion detecting state, for example bypressing and holding a corresponding button 2. At 41, while the button 2is kept pressed, the remote control 1 is being moved by the user along adesired path. The motion of the remote control is detected by a motiondetector 6 (such as an accelerometer) and corresponding electronicsignals are provided to a microcontroller 4 at 42 as a motion pattern.At 43, the microcontroller reads a stored unlocking motion pattern froma memory 5 of the remote control 1. The detected motion pattern and themotion pattern read from the memory 5 are compared at 44. If the twomotion patterns match within a predetermined degree (exit Y), the remotecontrol 1 is brought into an unlocked state at 45 and may be used forcontrolling an electronic device. If the two motion patterns do notmatch (exit N), the remote control 1 remains in the locked state at 46.The user may start the unlocking again at step 40.

If the remote control remains in the locked state, a correspondingsignal (for example, a visual signal such as lighting of an LED in theremote control 1 or an audible signal produced by a speaker or a piezoelement in the remote control) may be output at 46. Similarly, if theunlocking is successful and the remote control 1 is brought into theunlocked state a corresponding signal may be output at 45.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described in detail bythe embodiments explained above, it is not limited to these embodiments.Other variations may be derived by the skilled person without leavingthe scope of the attached claims.

Generally, “a” or “an” may be understood as singular or plural, inparticular with the meaning “at least one”, “one or more”, etc., unlessthis is explicitly excluded, for example by the term “exactly one”, etc.

In addition, numerical values may include the exact value as well as ausual tolerance interval, unless this is explicitly excluded.

Features shown in the embodiments, in particular in differentembodiments, may be combined or substituted without leaving the scope ofthe invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 remote control

2 button

3 buttons

4 microcontroller

5 memory

6 accelerometer

7 inputs

8 bus

9 transmitter

20-45 method steps

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of programming a remote controlconfigured for wireless control of a smart lamp or smart illuminationsystem, the method comprising: detecting movement of the remote controlalong a user-designated movement path; providing at least one electronicsignal to a controller element of the remote control, wherein the atleast one electronic signal is indicative of the detected movement ofthe remote control along the user-designated movement path; storing thedetected movement as a recorded movement pattern on the remote control;and associating the recorded movement pattern with a control command forthe smart lamp or smart illumination system stored on the remotecontrol.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to detecting movementof the remote control along the user-designated movement path, themethod further comprises: bringing the remote control into amotion-detecting state in which the remote control can detect movementof the remote control.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein bringing theremote control into the motion- detecting state comprises: receiving atleast one signal from an external computing device communicativelycoupled with the remote control.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein theat least one signal comprises at least one of a Bluetooth signal and aWi-Fi signal.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the external computingdevice is a smartphone or computer.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinthe at least one signal is provided through operation of a configurationapplication on the smartphone or computer.
 7. The method of claim 2,wherein bringing the remote control into the motion-detecting statecomprises at least one of: operating a physical control feature of theremote control; turning on the remote control; and coupling a powersource with the remote control.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thephysical control feature comprises a button on the remote control. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein operating the physical control featurecomprises: pressing and releasing the button before detecting movementof the remote control along the user-designated movement path can occur.10. The method of claim 8, wherein operating the physical controlfeature comprises: holding the button in a pressed state while detectingmovement of the remote control along the user-designated movement pathoccurs.
 11. The method of claim 2, further comprising: terminating themotion-detecting state after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed.12. The method of claim 2, further comprising: terminating themotion-detecting state when no movement of the remote control has beendetected after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the recorded movement pattern comprises aseries of spatial coordinates of the remote control.
 14. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the recorded movement pattern comprises a series ofmovement vectors of the remote control.
 15. The method of claim 1,wherein the recorded movement pattern comprises at least one numericalrepresentation of the detected movement.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the at least one numerical representation comprises a hashvalue.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the control command adjusts aparameter of a light output of the smart lamp or smart illuminationsystem.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the parameter of the lightoutput comprises at least one of a light intensity and a lighting theme.19. A remote control configured to perform the method of claim 1, theremote control comprising: a motion detector configured to detectmovement of the remote control along the user-designated movement path;memory configured to store: the detected movement as the recordedmovement pattern; and the control command associated with the recordedmovement pattern; and the controller element.
 20. The remote control ofclaim 19, further comprising a transmitter device configured to transmitthe control command in a wireless control signal to the smart lamp orsmart illumination system.